


Every Time She Moves

by DoreyG



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/M, Ferengi, Ferengi Gender Awfulness, Ficlet, First Meetings, Flirting, Gen, Genderswap, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 03:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15721416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/pseuds/DoreyG
Summary: Something about this woman sets him on edge, starts a strange feeling pulsing in his chest that he's not quite sure what to do with.





	Every Time She Moves

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet was written due to my eternal horrified fascination with Ferengi gender bullshit (the women are always naked! And stuck in the household! And not supposed to earn money despite that being THE ENTIRE POINT of Ferengi society!), my musings on what Quark would be like if he'd been born a woman in that society and my desire to have Odo and Quark spar constantly but SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY every single time. There may be more of this, but don't put money on it or anything.
> 
> Yes, the title is from This is What You Came For by Rihanna (and Calvin Harris, I guess).

The Ferengi woman sitting on the couch looks perfectly comfortable in her nudity. More than comfortable. She looks _confident_ , in a way that the few Ferengi women he's had cause to meet before have never been able to manage. She sits there perfectly calmly, with her chest thrust out and her legs slightly spread and...

Look, he's made a career out of not being particularly affected by his witnesses or suspects of even _colleagues_. But something about this woman sets him on edge, starts a strange feeling pulsing in his chest that he's not quite sure what to do with.

Keeping to business is probably the best option, maybe _that_ will stand some chance of focusing him, "so, you said your name was...?"

"Quark," The woman - _Quark_ , a silly name that he should be perfectly capable of dealing with - says, and makes a face, "a man's name, I know, but my father was _convinced_ that I was going to be a boy. And then when I popped out, definitely not a boy-"

"I can see that," he says, before he can quite help himself or remember that he's being _objective_ in this particular situation.

"-My _mother_ got involved, and insisted on calling me Quark anyway. 'I've been thinking of her as Quark for months!' She said. 'It'd be confusing to change it now,' she said. 'I personally feel that more names should be gender neutral anyway!' She said." Quark heaves a gusty sigh, gives him a faintly amused look like she's noticed his slip but has kindly decided not to comment on it for now, "no wonder I couldn't find a husband."

"I... See," he says, and hurries on before anything _more_ moronic - he's going to start commenting on her faintly pinkish nipples next - can come spilling out of his mouth, "and you said that you know something about the Le Riche gang?"

"Did I?" Quark asks innocently, and smiles even wider at the look on his face, "oh, yeah, I remember now. The Le Riche gang. Smugglers of rare books from Earth and Vulcan and so on. Allegedly, and this is just something that Rom gossiped about once so don't lay too much store on it, some of those rare books may have _drugs_ stuffed in their covers."

"That's a very common rumour, one that's been around for at _least_ as long as I've been on the station," he says, somewhat relieved as annoyance slowly rises up within him. He can focus on this woman being irritating, instead of anything else. He doesn't even need to look below her shoulders to do that, "I'm sorry, Quark, but if you only have repeated hearsay I'm not really sure why you invited me here."

"Can't a woman want to lure a dashing constable to her lair?" Quark winks, a transparently meaningless bit of flirting that he's still only barely able to ignore "...What if I could prove it?"

His slowly building relief vanishes in an instant. It's hard to ignore the surge of interest within him, at the sudden vulnerability on Quark's face, "prove what?"

"You know, the drugs," Quark says, glances nervously around the room for a moment as if to check that nobody is listening in on a mere _female_ daring to notice something, "what if, just hypothetically mind, I've the Le Riche gang shoving their drugs into the book covers and know where you could see it too?"

"That... Would be an incredibly useful break in our investigation," he says carefully, and watches Quark's brief smirk with an uncomfortable sense of fascination, "though I must admit, I'm not sure how you got this information. To my knowledge, Ferengi women aren't supposed to leave their household."

"They aren't," Quark says, looking uncomfortable again, and glances back down at her knees, "but... I've never been that good at being a Ferengi woman, truth be told."

"I-" He grinds to a halt this time, before any more stupidity - about her curves, or her personality, or her obvious intelligence as sharp as a knife - can spill out of his mouth and ruin everything, "I don't know much, about the customs of Ferengi culture, so I'm not sure I can say."

"Forgive me for saying, constable, but _that's_ obvious," Quark says, a lingering bitterness still on her face. It's strange, downright _bizarre_ truth be told, but he experiences the sudden urge to wrap her in a blanket and say soothing things until she feels better. He's never been the caretaking sort, but this woman...

"I don't know much about the customs of Ferengi culture," he finds himself repeating steadily, again before he can really think about it. She deserves this much, at least, "but if you have vital information that could lead to a breakthrough in one of my cases, I'd say you're doing well at being a decent person."

Quark's head snaps up, she blinks at him in a surprised manner. There's a long moment of lingering shock... And then her lips curve into a sharp smile, "so, I'm guessing you _do_ want the information."

He smiles to himself, pleased. It obviously wasn't the worst thing he could've said, she seems amused again at the very least and he's not sure why exactly that matters to him but he's perfectly willing to take it, "providing that it's actually legitimate-"

"It is," Quark interrupts, her sharp smile only growing wider, "ask my brother, he'll tell you that I'm a _very_ honest person."

"-Then yes," he finishes, and briefly - very briefly, he can't allow himself _too_ much uncharacteristic tenderness after all - allows his mind to dwell on the possibility of those sharp teeth, "To be explicit: yes, I would be very interested in the information that you have to offer."

" _Excellent_ ," Quark practically purrs, watching him with a strange kind of fascination in return, and slaps her hands firmly down upon her thighs, "name your price!"

He's so pleased by her brightness, that he doesn't think to be annoyed at her haggling until later.


End file.
